Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to automotive head rests and, more particularly, to a retractable pop-up head rest usable with a vehicle passenger seat to limit the amount of extension of a passenger's neck during a rear end collision.
"Whiplash" is a common injury which occurs to seated passengers when the vehicle is struck from the rear, suddenly braked or impacted at the front. An impact from the rear causes the neck of a relaxed person to be suddenly extended, then to retract resulting in injuries to the neck or back. To prevent or minimize the possibility of whiplash occurring, vehicles have been equipped with head rests or supports, which are fastened to the top of the passenger seat and extend upwardly to a position immediately behind the passengers head, to limit and cushion the movement of the passengers head and neck relative to his torso in the vehicle. Such head rests have the disadvantage of being in a position to block the view of the driver as he turns his head to look to the side or to the rear. A further disadvantage is that some drivers find head rest to be uncomfortable and therefore undesirable.
Various solutions have been proposed in the art. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,420,572, an automatically extending head rest is disclosed in which the driver actuates the device by actuating a switch on the dash board or steering wheel. This actuation mechanism has the disadvantage of having to be driver operated, and in the case of the rear end impact, the driver would be totally unaware of the impact occuring and, therefore, would not be able to actuate the automatic head rest.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,561,806 discloses a vehicle safety system in which a retracted head rest is extended to a position behind the drivers neck and is actuated by a seat belt mechanism. This system has the disadvantage of requiring the seat belt to be worn by the passenger so as to activate the device and extend the head rest into the extended position. Also, this system would require the seat belt restraint to be modified so as to be usable with the disclosed invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,586,366 discloses an inertia-responsive retractable head restraint device for use in conjunction with a vehicle seat back to prevent rearward motion of an occupant's head upon rapid acceleration of the vehicle thereby preventing whiplash injury to the occupant. The head rest disclosed is pivotably mounted to a restraint pad support member that is vertically adjustably carried by the seat back of the vehicle. A disadvantage of the disclosed device is the overall complexity of the device and the attendant cost to manufacture. A further disadvantage is that the device requires a special head rest adapted for pivotal movement relative to the seat.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,205,585, discloses an occupants safety device in which a headrest moves in conjunction with the movement of a rowbar. This device is actuated by crash sensors which are actuated in the event of a severe impact.